Farmington Economic Development Committee
Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Members Present: Paula Proulx, Silvia Arcouette, Barry Elliott, and Richard Stanley
Members Absent: Cindy Snowdon
Staff Present: Dan Merhalski, Planning Director
Paula Proulx called the meeting to order at 7:10 AM.
- Review Minutes of May 6, 2009:
Sylvia Arcouette motioned to accept the minutes as written, 2nd Richard Stanley. Motion carried with all in favor.
- Follow up on TIF District Presentation:
Paula Proulx opened the discussion.
Dan Merhalski presented TIF to Board of Selectmen on June 8, 2009.
Discussion –
Silvia Arcouette thought that it would be beneficial to supply the Board of Selectmen with facts regarding how a TIF program has been used and benefited by other Towns/Cities. She would like to see the Board of Selectmen check into this further.
Paula Proulx noted that it is about value not so much about cost or money; it is an investment to the future of Farmington, NH, and to get that understood.
Barry Elliott commented that we need to define what is going to be done and how TIF will help this happen. We need to ask, how do we make the downtown better and what will the value be when this is done? The TIF district then becomes the vehicle to help this happen.
Richard Stanley thinks we need to educate the Board of Selectmen and the community more on what the TIF is and does.
Barry noted that the EDC needed some direction from the Board of Selectmen, on what the dreams and aspirations are for the town. Do the Selectmen have any suggestions? He then suggested presenting the Board of Selectmen with a questionnaire. The committee liked this idea.
The committee asked Dan Merhalski to create the questionnaire; the questions would be, do you agree, Yes or No; if No was the answer then they would be asked to explain. Dan will use the punch list from the Downtown Committee survey for these questions.
Paula stated that she could put this on the agenda for the June 22, 2009 Board of Selectmen meeting and get the feedback then. The committee agreed that this was a good idea, it was also agreed that the committee would keep the dialog going with the Board of Selectmen.
- Continuation of “Buy Local” Plan:
Discussion –
Richard Stanley said that the Downtown Committee was holding a Social on June 24, 2009, from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm, on the 2nd floor of the Town Library. John Fitch was hand-delivering invitations to all of the local businesses. The Social it to get input from the local businesses, regarding the downtown. The EDC is invited to attend.
Paula Proulx asked if the Downtown Committee is advertising this in any other way. Richard did note that he has seen an ad on channel 26 and maybe there would be some postings at the Town Hall.
Silvia Arcouette stated that the Woman’s Club wants to give a gift to the town. One of the ideas is to beautify the area between the Community Action building and the Old Town Hall, where the bushes are, for people to sit.
Barry Elliott told the committee that the Cameron’s Flyer has a “Buy Local” ad in the back of the flyer. He asked for the committee to check it out and give him some feedback on it.
The committee will revisit the “Buy Local” Plan after the Downtown social.
- Information from Business Recruitment Focus Meeting:
Barry Elliott commented on the lack of attendance to the meeting. There were to be at least 20 people who signed up to attend and did not. Barry was very disappointed in the turnout.
Paula Proulx gave handouts to the committee regarding the meeting; She thought would be interesting to the committee. Paula was also disappointed in the turnout to the meeting.
Richard Stanley said he would put these handouts out at the Social for anyone to take.
- Next meeting agenda for 7/8/2009:
- Review Minutes of 6/10/2009
- Follow up on TIF Punch list to the Board of Selectmen
- Discussion on the Downtown Social
- Any Other Business to come before the Committee
Silvia Arcouette motioned to adjourn the meeting, 2nd Barry Elliott. Motion carried with all in favor.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 AM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Elaine Labrie
Planning & Code Enforcement Secretary
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